In 1980, an administrative judge called one teacher's classroom a "blackboard jungle." But since then, even critics of the Compton Unified School District admit that working conditions have generally improved. But union officials still contend that the school system's 3,161 teachers and employees struggle against the worst job environment in Los Angeles County--witness the district's mounting cost for workers compensation, which has doubled in the six years since.

Employers, especially owners of small businesses, are about to see increases in their workers' compensation insurance bills. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones looked at the $14-billion-a-year market and advised that premium increases of 6.7% would not be out of line for policies that take effect after Jan. 1. The state's largest carrier, the government-run State Compensation Insurance Fund, plans to raise its rates roughly 6.5% beginning in March....

Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi on Thursday approved a 6.7% hike in workers' compensation rates--far less than the industry sought--while renewing his call for comprehensive reform of the system that provides benefits for workers who are injured on the job. "There are simply too many pigs feeding at the trough," Garamendi said. "We must stop the special interests from unjustly profiting from an increasingly costly workers' compensation system."

SACRAMENTO - An effort by the National Football League and owners of other professional sports teams to limit workers' compensation claims by out-of-state athletes is close to final passage in the California Legislature. The measure cleared the state Senate on Friday on a 34-2 vote. In May, it passed the Assembly, 61-4. The latest version of the bill is expected to win final passage next week in the Assembly and be on the governor's desk shortly after the scheduled Sept. 13 legislative recess.

California employers will get an estimated $50 million to $60 million in extra relief under a workers' compensation rate decision announced Thursday by Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi. Garamendi's decision extends the reach of a 7% workers' compensation rate cut approved by the Legislature. He called for the cut to apply to policies already in force on July 16, when lawmakers acted.

Court of Appeal to Review Workers' Comp Decision: A sweeping ruling that threw out workers' compensation claims filed by a group of 10 laid-off International Rectifier employees will be reviewed by the California Court of Appeal. The original decision last April by Long Beach workers' compensation Judge Frank S. Falero sparked controversy by accusing the workers, their lawyers and doctors of conspiring to commit insurance fraud.

The crowded field of workers compensation insurers in Southern California has become a little more competitive with the creation of a new firm in the giant network of subsidiaries under Continental Corp. in New York. The new subsidiary, Workers Compensation & Indemnity Co. of California, has started operating from offices in Brea to try to grab a share of the $6-billion workers compensation market in the state. Employees for the carrier had a bit of a head start, though.

Two oil rig workers who fell 80 feet from an offshore oil platform and then filed workers' compensation claims in Ventura County against their employer were indicted Tuesday on charges of staging the accident. Federal prosecutors accuse John Michael Costello, 34, of Pismo Beach and Gary Grant Mangler, 35, of Lompoc of staging the Sept. 8, 1992, incident at Platform Irene in the coastal waters of San Luis Obispo County so that they could collect millions of dollars.

Revealing new charges of public corruption in California's workers' compensation program, the agency that regulates the trouble-plagued system said Friday it has fired three employees for allegedly taking bribes from a Southland firm that did business with the state. The investigation that led to the criminal charges follows the agency's recent probe of misconduct in California's workers' compensation courts.

What changes will California's new package of workers' compensation reforms bring? Its fundamental goal is to cut most of the bloated system's costs, and then to use those savings to provide relief for employers and higher cash benefits for injured workers. But history suggests that the complicated array of provisions in the bills passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday won't yield dramatic savings, at least not quickly.

During the pregame show before February's Super Bowl in New Orleans, Deion Sanders shared his thoughts about the thousands of former football players filing concussion lawsuits against the National Football League. "The game is a safe game," the television analyst and Hall of Fame cornerback said. "I don't buy all these guys coming back with these concussions. I'm not buying all that. Half these guys are trying to make money off the deal. " What Sanders didn't say was that more than two years earlier he had filed a workers' compensation claim in California, alleging head trauma and other injuries incurred while playing for the Dallas Cowboys.

SACRAMENTO - Let the political games begin. A battle between professional athletes and owners of football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer teams starts Monday. Dozens of retired athletes plan a news conference on the steps of the state Capitol to denounce a bill that would make it harder for them to file workers' compensation claims in California. The measure, AB 1309 by Assemblyman Henry Perea (D-Fresno), seeks to close what he sees as a legal loophole that allows out-of-state players to file claims for compensation for sports injuries developed from years of pounding in the arena.

SACRAMENTO - In his seven-year career with the Denver Broncos, running back Terrell Davis, a former Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, dazzled fans with his speed and elusiveness. At the end of his rookie year in 1995, he signed a $6.8-million, five-year contract. Off the field he endorsed Campbell's soup. And when he hung up his cleats, he reported for the National Football League Network and appeared in movies and TV shows. So it may surprise Californians to find out that in 2011, Davis got a $199,000 injury settlement from a California workers' compensation court for injuries related to football.

A major overhaul of California's $17-billion workers' compensation insurance program was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown, who called the bipartisan agreement "unusual in our polarized society. " The governor made his comments Tuesday at a bill signing ceremony at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank surrounded by some of the legislative, business and labor leaders who helped forge the consensus that led to the legislation. On hand were Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento)

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown is personally lobbying lawmakers, businesses and labor unions to round up enough votes to pass a major overhaul of California's $17-billion workers' compensation insurance program. Brown and top aides held a series of midday meetings Friday in the office of Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. Players in the complex deal point to the Senate as a potential stumbling block in getting a workers' comp bill approved before the Legislature adjourns for the year Friday night.

SACRAMENTO - With just three days left in this year's legislative session, state lawmakers got a dose of the strong emotions swirling through the Capitol for and against a plan to overhaul California's century-old workers' compensation insurance program. The bill formally introduced Friday seeks to increase benefits for injured workers while cutting medical and legal costs to avoid an estimated 12.6% hike in premiums facing employers in January. At issue is a 170-page bill to revise the $17-billion system to protect injured workers that is only now beginning a fast and furious trip through the Legislature.

While crusading against fraud in the workers' compensation system, Gov. Pete Wilson and his predecessor, George Deukmejian, failed to fill key jobs needed to enforce a 2-year-old law aimed partly at fighting fraudulent claims. The 1989 legislation, designed to cut costs for employers while increasing benefits for injured workers, created a new council to oversee doctors, set standards and weed out fraudulent physicians. The bill took effect Jan. 1, 1990.

In the first Los Angeles County conviction of its kind under the state's new get-tough law on workers' compensation fraud, a jury convicted the owner of several compensation evaluation firms of bilking insurance companies out of at least $500,000. A Superior Court jury convicted Erroll Dale Frazier, 53, late Tuesday of 17 felony counts. The panel deliberated for seven days. Its verdict marks the first conviction for the filing of claims for phony work.

SACRAMENTO - Entering the final week of their legislative session, state lawmakers still must grapple with controversial proposals to overhaul California's overburdened public pension system, revamp its costly workers' compensation scheme and change the way corporate taxes are assessed. Legislative leaders said they hoped to pass an ambitious agenda aimed at convincing voters that they are responsible stewards of Californians' money. The outcome is likely to set the stage for Gov. Jerry Brown's high-stakes campaign to raise billions of dollars in taxes to close the state's deficit.